Wash them. Warm water - WARM! Like for a baby's bath. They can take it. Dug a plant out of the dirt last year to remove the damned netting (it is NOT biodegradable!!!!) from peat plugs that were strangling my plants as they were hitting mid-flower. First I removed as much as possible and it involved tearing a lot of roots while leaving some net in pieces. I then would replant and all did fine. But one was a flowering clone that had never been in a peat plug and was nicely rooted until . . . .. I replanted and then saw my new homebuilt 5 gallon DWC rig sitting unused. Got warm water with 2 DROPS of Dawn in it as a surfactant (it makes it easier - trust me), dug her back up and bathed her roots until no organic materials could be seen. I then placed it in a homemade net basket (I hadn't gotten that far in my project) from a McDonald's plastic drink cup, holes made with a hot paper clip on the fly. Filled it with horticultural grade pumice and began filling with tap water. Adjusted it to 5.7 with PPM of 200 (110 of which is my hard water) and turned on the pump.
That clone never missed a beat. No droop, no discoloring. I quickly raised the PPM until it hit 450 and she started to show slight leaf tip curl. I held that and she tasted so good and was 2 hit stuff.
Hamhanded folks who have a hard time changing a diaper might be advised to leave well enough alone. Otherwise, use care. Do NOT get in a huge hurry to keep from "shocking" your baby. Understand this is not a day-long procedure. Those who have some plant growing skill should not hesitate to transplant during flower if necessary.
